Here’s on you likely didn’t see coming; Activision is gearing up for a big relaunch of classic adventure game developer Sierra Entertainment at Gamescom next week. At this point in time Activision are being very secretive about what’s going on, so we can only speculate. Which is good, because I can do plenty of that.
Let’s start with what we already know. So far all we have is a new website, with an embedded youtube video that takes up the whole screen and starts playing right off the bat. The video is simple enough, showing off what will be the company’s new logo animation. That’s right, there’s no teaser of any new games hidden there, since Sierra was always a sucker for extravagant intros involving their mountain logo. You can see it at the newly renovated sierra.com, or in the embedded video below:
Now, the question remains as to why Activision would bring the old developer back? Sierra became famous in the 90’s for adventure games such as Gabe Knight, Beneath a Steel Sky, or the legendary Phantasmagoria. Towards the end of the decade though PC gaming would wane in favour of consoles, and the point and click adventure game with them. They had a brief stint as a publisher before being bought by Activision in 2008, who soon absorbed them into the company. Since then however PC gaming has risen for the ashes, and TellTale’s multi award winning adventure games such as The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us has brought on a strong return of the genre. It could be that Activision are looking to get in on the market as well, and the return of the beloved developer would rocket them into the spotlight. Sierra’s been around a long time, and people don’t forget old franchises that easily. The only question now is will we be getting reboots and sequels, or new franchises? Keep a close eye on Activision at Gamescom if you want the answer.
